NutriStack
Ginkgo Biloba and Grape Seed Extract, a caution.
Used together, grape seed extract and ginkgo may additively reduce platelet aggregation and impair clotting. For healthy people at usual supplement doses this is generally well tolerated, but the additive effect raises bleeding risk in higher-risk settings: around surgery or dental procedures, in those with bleeding disorders, or in anyone also taking aspirin, NSAIDs, or prescription blood thinners. Ginkgo in particular has scattered case reports of spontaneous bleeding.
One pair, every claim cited. The two substances, the type, the mechanism, the recommendation, and the primary literature.
Same shape as the other 1,729 pairs in the public database.
From the interaction database
What the row says.
Every entry follows the same shape: what is happening, the mechanism, the recommendation, and the primary literature.
At a glance
- Substances
- Ginkgo Biloba and Grape Seed Extract
- Pair type
- Caution
- Evidence (highest tier)
- Emerging
- Source citations
- 3 sources
- Stack Score effect
- −5 to your Stack Score (per scored caution row).
- Scope
- Supplement × Supplement
- Last verified
- May 30, 2026
Caution · Emerging evidence
Caution
What is happening. Used together, grape seed extract and ginkgo may additively reduce platelet aggregation and impair clotting. For healthy people at usual supplement doses this is generally well tolerated, but the additive effect raises bleeding risk in higher-risk settings: around surgery or dental procedures, in those with bleeding disorders, or in anyone also taking aspirin, NSAIDs, or prescription blood thinners. Ginkgo in particular has scattered case reports of spontaneous bleeding.
Mechanism. Both supplements have independently documented antiplatelet activity through different pathways. Grape seed extract proanthocyanidins can prolong platelet closure time and show anticoagulant and antiplatelet activity in laboratory studies. Ginkgo biloba inhibits platelet-activating factor (PAF) through its ginkgolide constituents. Combining two agents that act on platelet function can produce an additive reduction in clotting capacity.
Recommendation. If you take both, watch for easy bruising, nosebleeds, or prolonged bleeding from cuts. Stop both supplements at least 1 to 2 weeks before any scheduled surgery or dental extraction and tell your surgeon. Do not combine this pair with anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications (warfarin, apixaban, clopidogrel, aspirin) without clinician oversight. Separating the doses does not reduce this risk because the effect is systemic, not absorption-based.
Minimum separation. Not applicable (systemic additive effect; separate dosing does not reduce risk)
Sources (3)
- Vitseva O et al. Grape seed and skin extracts inhibit platelet function and release of reactive oxygen intermediates. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2005;46(4):445-51. PMID 16160595
- Bone KM. Potential interaction of Ginkgo biloba leaf with antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs: what is the evidence? Mol Nutr Food Res. 2008;52(7):764-71. PMID 18214851
- Hatfield J et al. Dietary supplements and bleeding. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2022;35(6):802-807. PMID 36304597
Stack Score
How this pair moves the number.
Effect on the composite score
If both Ginkgo Biloba and Grape Seed Extract are in the same stack, this pair applies −5 to your Stack Score (per scored caution row).
The full algorithm, the clamping rules, and four worked stacks are documented at /methodology/stack-score.
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